Modern computers have become very sophisticated in the range of services they can offer. Not only can computers be used for the conventional day-to-day processing tasks, they invariably contain some software, diagnostics software for example, that can assist in the event of a malfunction of the computer. Usually, the diagnostics software is specific to the manufacturer or distributor of the computer system. For example, Hewlett Packcard Company has very sophisticated diagnostics and technical support tools and processes, which can be immensely useful in the event of a malfunction.
However, once a customer has taken possession of a computer there is little that can be done to protect the support or diagnostics software. In particular, large organisations that use a significant number of computers might find it cost effective to roll-out those computers using exactly the same HDD image on all computers; that image having been thoroughly tried and tested. This approach allows the organisation to reduce their IT infrastructure and support costs. Often the process of creating identical disc images involves reformatting the HDD or removing existing software and replacing it with alternative software. In either case, there is a significant risk that the diagnostics and support software described above will be at least corrupted and possibly removed completely.
The structure of a physical disc such as, for example, an HDD, is such that it contains a number of primary partitions. A primary partition is a portion of a physical disc that functions, in effect, as a separate disc. For master boot record (MBR) discs, up to four primary partitions can be created, or three primary partitions together with an extended partition. For basic GUID partition table (GPT) discs, up to 128 primary partitions can be created. Extended partitions, which can be created for master boot record discs only, are useful if more than four volumes are required on a basic MBR disc.
It is often the case that discs are partitioned into at least two portions. The first portion is known as a data portion and is used, as is conventional, to hold the operating system and any associated applications and data stemming from the operating system or applications. A second portion of such a partitioned disc might be a hidden partition that is usually inaccessible to all but the most sophisticated of computer users due to their specialist nature. Furthermore, conventional applications that run on top of an operating system can only access and manipulate data and software contained within the partition or partitions to which the operating system belongs. Therefore, it can be appreciated that the hidden partition is inaccessible to such applications, which include applications for creating disc images
Therefore, hidden partitions are used by computer manufacturers to store technical support software such as the above-described diagnostics software. This software might be used to provide technical support to a user in the event that the user's computer has suffered a fault even if the disc has been reformatted or a disc image has been used to over-write an existing disc image.
However, the hidden partition, and, therefore, the software and data contained within such a hidden partition are accessible only from the BIOS. It will be appreciated that BIOS manufacturers are separate legal entities to the computer manufacturers. Therefore, there is currently little computer manufacturers can do to control or encourage access to the hidden partition by altering the system BIOS as the content of the system BIOS is under the control of a third party. Furthermore, having an uncorrupted system BIOS is crucial to the correct operation of the computer. Therefore, altering the system BIOS is not to be undertaken lightly, which implies that access to the software and data within the hidden partition is not generally available.
It is an object of embodiments of the present invention at least to mitigate some of the problems of the prior art.